Nightfall (KotLC)

Chapter 24

Aaah!!!!!! 3K!!!!!!! Thank you guys so much!!!! From now on I won't give a bonus update every time we gain 1K reads, but I wanted to do it this time. It's only been 5 days since we got 2K!!!! Honestly, just thank you guys so much it really means a lot to me. Okay, enjoy this chapter and I'll see you again tomorrow!!! <3

Sophie's head was spinning. Surely she hadn't heard Fitz correctly. She snuck a glance up at him. His anxious expression told her he had meant what he said.

But how did she feel? She didn't have to think long about it.

"I love you, too."

"Really?" he asked, relieved.

"Of course!"

He pulled her into him, hugging her tightly. They sat like that for who knows how long– for once, Sophie wasn't counting the seconds.

Finally, Fitz pulled away, tilting her chin up and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Their moment was interrupted (A/N Again?! Ikr!) by Linh tentatively opening the door. She looked upset as soon as she saw them together, but she kept her composure as she said, "Physic said Oralie is awake now and you can see you. You guys are going first."

Linh led the couple to one of the guest bedrooms. She didn't follow them inside, but instead sulked off somewhere. Sophie instinctively reached for Fitz's hand as they stepped further into the room.

It wasn't until they were standing right next to the bed that Sophie could finally see Oralie. Her form looked so small amongst the pillows.

"She just woke up. She's still prone to headaches. The symptoms appear to be similar to those of fading, but Fade Fuel made no changes in her condition. After you finish talking with her, I'm going to have to give her another sedative. Then, the Collective will speak with her," Physic explained.

Sophie nodded. Fitz squeezed her hand. Physic stepped out of the room to give them privacy, reminding them to call for her if anything happened.

Oralie opened her blue eyes (A/N I don't remember what color blue specifically and I'm too lazy to find it sorry.) and Sophie immediately apologized. "It's all my fault. I exploded the forcefield that hit you."

"You were protecting your sister, who, for reasons we have yet to discover, is very important to our world. You do not need to apologize," Oralie assured her.

Physic opened the door and peeked her head through the door. "Sorry to interrupt, but the rest of the Council is here."

Oralie sighed. "Are you having another headache?" Physic asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Bring them in."

Physic returned moments later with Bronte and Terik. "Sophie, Fitz, would you mind stepping out? I don't want to overwhelm her."

They agreed, and in the hallway, Linh stopped them. "Sophie, can I talk to you?"

"Um, sure."

Linh led Sophie into another guest bedroom down the hall. She sat nervously next to her.

Sorry this chapter was a little shorter, I wanted to put their conversation in the next chapter. Anyway, here's a theory I have:

So you know how Bronte is always angry? Well, remember when Sophie inflicted happiness on him and he got all hysterical and almost died? And Sophie had to inflict anger to get him back to normal? Well, my theory is that his default emotion is anger, and I think something happened to him a while ago and that's why he's always so grumpy and unhappy. And he's started to open up and be nice to Sophie, which I think is because he's trying his hardest against whatever makes him so angry. I hope we find out more about him in the coming books!